The Chosen Three
by Shrimpyrocks13
Summary: Era is the ambassador for the Sheikah tribe hundreds of years after the Great Calamity. She is summoned back to the Great Calamity with two strangers and forced to save Hyrule for the goddess Hylia with little explanation. This is a raw, unedited record of the adventures of LOZ OCs in a home-brew Dungeons and Dragons campaign set in Hyrule.
1. Chapter 1 - Let's Do the Time Warp

I was prepared for a lot of difficult tasks growing up, since I was a politician's daughter, but never imagined I would be asked to do half of the things I did before I held an office of my own.

I am the only child of the leader of the Sheikah tribe. Hundreds of years after the Hero Link defeated the Great Calamity, the Sheikah were almost non-existant. Since we are just a sub-classification of Hylian, many of our ancestors had no qualms about marrying outsiders. They even claimed it was "healthy." Eventually Kakariko Village reached the point to where it was full of blonde-haired Hylians claiming they were descendants from the nimble Sheikah warriors. However just a few generations before I was born, our elder decided it was best to focus on our heritage and try to restore the Sheikah to their former glory. So the people practiced martial arts, revived the ancient language, focused on technological advances, and above all respected the white hair and red eyes that the Sheikah of the past possessed.

My father is almost pure Sheikah. His ancestors were nearly all Sheikah elders and appreciated the laws and traditions that the tribe held. He is an only child and so the position naturally fell to him since his whole life was dedicated to the tribe. His schooling consisted of nothing but Sheikah laws. He practiced martial arts with a private tutor. His toys were all about how to improve technology. He even was blessed with the white hair and slender build of a pure Sheikah, a trait that not many had.

His father arranged a marriage with the daughter of a leader from a nearby Hylian village. Kakariko had been experiencing some prejudice from the kingdom of Hyrule, specifically from the Hylians. The Hylians felt as though the Sheikah believed that they were a superior tribe. Due to our village's focus on reviving the Sheikah blood, the tribe found itself ostracized from the rest of the Hylian citizens. My grandfather hoped that this marriage would bring some sort of peace to the growing tensions between them, and it did.

I grew up knowing that I would be the next leader of the Sheikah tribe. My schooling was much like my father's, learning about the history of Hyrule with a focus on our tribe and learning four languages. I learned a bit of martial arts, but was told that I wouldn't need it due to our village's armed forces. I was sent away for several years to train with the Gerudo, a group of all woman warriors who were unmatched in physical strength and military tactic, except for the Goron. I was to become the military leader, ambassador, and elder for the Sheikah. It all fell on my slender shoulders since I was the only heir.

I was confident in my role. I was already serving as the ambassador for the tribe by the time I turned twenty. When I was twenty-five, I represented the team assembled for the Hyrule Games, a competition between the races of Hyrule that occurred every four years. This was my second time at the Games, but countless time in Castletown.

The whole city was decorated for the Games. Flags representing the different races hung out the windows and above doors of the locals' homes. Booths lined the streets selling clothing and souvenirs. Bands played in the square, and all types of people could be seen dancing to the music at all hours of the day. My teammates' eyes were sparkling with excitement as they surveyed their surroundings. I wanted them to enjoy their time here as much as I wanted them to win the competitions beginning in a few days. I told them all to explore the town and that I expected them at the training ground early tomorrow before I let them go. I skipped the festival and was escorted directly to the princess. She and I were longtime friends. She was just a few years younger than me, so we were able to bond over things like living in the public eye.

The day before the games started, I was training with my team when a bright flash of light came from the sky. I wanted to brush it off as lightning, but it didn't seem quite right. I quietly left my team and ran out of Castletown to investigate it.

As soon as I reached the sight where the lightning had struck, I saw creatures that hadn't been seen since the calamity. I quickly ran to the bushes to get a closer look and hide myself. I leaned my head out to see what was happening. Not that far ahead, the creatures were attacking a Goron disguised a ball of rock. I dashed towards the Goron to help him, but he destroyed them with one swing. I hid back in the bush and watched as he rolled back into town. In the distance behind me I could see the flashes of light more clearly. It definitely wasn't lightening. They came from a pillar of light where more monsters were coming out

I started to run back to Castletown to alert the others, but ran into an army of Hylian soldiers. They told me that these creatures were coming towards the town and that we needed to protect ourselves. We gathered into small groups prepared ourselves to take on whatever came our way. I was placed in a group with the same Goron I saw earlier and two Hylians. I tried to warn my group about these monsters and that I had read about them in history books, but it was too late. The time had come to fight.

Three of the creatures came up against our group of four. I tried my best to defeat the one attacking me, but it was larger than I was by several inches and definitely weighed more than me. It was erratic in its movements and hard to predict. As I managed to finally kill the monster, one of the other two killed one of the Hylians. The Goron, after he looked over and saw the lifeless body of the young man, was filled with rage and knocked the beast he was fighting out with one blow. The other Hylian dropped his weapon and ran over, screaming and sobbing, as the Goron turned to the last monster. The dead man was his younger brother.

Time stopped. I had won my first real battle. I looked up, expecting to see the other groups of warriors standing in victory with us. But I didn't. Instead, I saw the opposite: Hyrule citizens strewn about the city, either unconscious or deceased. I tried not to think about which one it was. More and more monsters were coming into the city, and I decided that it was time to get out. I ran, the Goron following me. He quickly passed me and rolled into a small wooded area near Castletown. I followed and hid in the bushes.

As I hid in the bush, I noticed another pillar of light in the center of a clearing. The monsters surrounded the Goron. He rolled in a ball, and I expected him to perform a sneak attack as he had done before. After all, these foes are inquisitive, but not too bright. Instead, he rolled straight into the pillar of light and immediately disappeared. I gasped in shock. That Goron had just committed suicide! I couldn't believe my eyes. The monsters heard me, and I stood very still and waited for the monsters to go away, but they never did.

I thought that maybe I could sneak around them, but they caught me and pushed me into the center of the clearing with my back facing the pillar of light. I was terrified. The world I knew was coming to an end. I struck a fighting stance, still weak from my previous battle. I threw a punch at the nearest monster and missed. It hit me with the club in its hands and I stumbled back several feet and landed on my back. _This is where I die. _Darkness started creeping into my vision. I could barely make out the silhouettes of a large bird and a giant rock. I heard their voices too.

"What use do the dead have for a scarf?" I heard an undeniable Rito accent ask. His shape disappeared from my blurry vision, but his voice was very close to my face. I could feel the scarf around my neck being tugged away.

"I don't think she's dead, brother," the deep and graveled voice of a Goron replied. My scarf was suddenly let go, and it fell back around my neck. "Hey little one. Wake up." A massive hand jolted me back and forth until I regained full consciousness. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Am I okay?" I repeated the question weakly. The Goron nodded his head and dropped his hand from his shoulder. I propped myself up and looked at the Rito, who had a disappointed look on his face and whose wings were crossed as he looked at the feathers that would be a Hylian's fingers. "No. I am not okay. I don't know what's going on. Do you?"

The Rito grinned at me with a, "No." I looked around and saw a few dead soldiers lying around. The one directly behind the Rito had clearly been looted. On the Rito's hip was a sword made for Hylian soldiers. "But I got some great weapons out of it." I scowled at him.

"Hey. I think I know you." The Goron said. "You're that little Sheikah that everyone was going on about was important to keep safe, aren't ya?"

I nodded. "Probably. My name is Era Demal. I'm the ambassador for the Sheikah tribe. My father is the elder of Kakariko Villiage."

"Name's Gortron the Goron, brother!" the Goron replied loudly as he beat his fist against his chest. I squinted and leaned back at the sound of his booming voice. We both looked at the Rito, who was now holding his new sword and admiring it.

"Oh. Right. My name is Rass." He said.

"Didn't we fight together in Castletown?" I asked the Goron. He nodded. "I thought you killed yourself when you ran into the beam of light!"

"No. I followed him into it," he chuckled as he nodded towards the Rito.

"Anyway, I'm sorry about the battle at Castletown. I wish I could have saved that man, but I'm not a very good fighter." The image of the two brothers replayed in my head. I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to forget it, since it was the first time I had really seen death.

"Then what are you good at?" Rass asked

"I'm a politician. I'm good at books and things. I can tell you all about the creatures we just fought." I replied.

"Ah! Book Friend. Tell us about your books."

"They're bokoblins." I explained as I stood up. "The Hero during the Great Calamity fought tons of these things. They were abundant during that time and pretty much went extinct once Calamity Ganon was defeated since they were under his control."

"Hopefully this doesn't mean that Ganon is back. The cycle was supposed to have been broken when the Hero defeated the Calamity. It's all supposed to be a thing of the past." I said. "I need to get back to my village."

I stopped speaking and took a look around. We were right where I remember being, but it looked a little bit different. Namely, the statues were destroyed and there weren't as many trees as I remembered there being. "This seems off." I said.

"I was thinking that too," agreed Gortron.

"Rass, do you mind flying up above the treetops to see what's going on?" Rass nodded and flew up for a bit before coming back down.

"Friends, there are robots walking around!" He exclaimed with a grin. "We should try to be their friends." I pressed my hands together and held them against my face.

"What's wrong?" Gortron asked.

"This might sound absolutely crazy, but I think we traveled back in time," I said, removing my hands from my face and pointing them down.

"That's not possible," Gorton replied with hesitation. He definitely thought I was crazy.

"How amazing!" Rass said. He was so excited, his wings started flapping and he hovered just about a foot off the ground.

"What makes you think so?" Gortron asked me after a moment.

"These robots are called Guardians," I explained. "They're ancient Sheikah technology that our ancestors planned to use against Calamity Gannon. But Gannon was stronger than anyone could imagine and he took control over all of the Guardians as well as the Divine Beasts. We destroyed what was left of them after the Hero defeated Gannon. There's no other explanation. Tell me, Rass, what color were the lights in them?"

"Red. Definitely Red. My favorite color," he said. I sighed.

I sighed. "I'm certain. It's the only way they could be out walking around right now."

Gortron's was frozen in shock. Rass moved in between Gorton and me, placed a wing on either of our backs, and pulled us into some sort of side hug. "Rock Friend, Book Friend. This is going to be great."

I pulled away in disgust that he would think this was exciting. "No, it's not. We are stuck in a time of great danger."

Gortron nodded in agreement. "What do you think we should do, little one?"

"We need to head to my hometown. The leader during this time was pivotal in honing the Hero's ability to overcome the Great Calamity. She was very wise and may be able to point us in a direction. I know a path that can get us there quickly."


	2. Chapter 2 - A Rito Walks into a Bar

The two others followed as I led the way to Kakariko Village. It looked significantly smaller than I was used to. We had built it up in the years since the Calamity, to allow for our growing population. The elder's house still stood where I knew it to stand though. Rass found a bar in the inn and decided it was far more interesting than talking to the elder, Lady Impa. I asked Gortron if he was going to come with me. He took one look at the wooden stairs and said, "Sorry, but I don't think those planks can hold the weight of someone like me. I'll go and make sure Rass doesn't start any trouble." I thanked him and headed in.

"What can I do for you child?" an elderly woman asked me. I bowed.

"Lady Impa. My name is Era Demal and I'm a Sheikah from the future." I grimaced as I said "the future." I knew it sounded insane, but I hoped that being truthful with the elder would grant me guidance.

"Ah. So it is written. So it shall be," she said slowly. I furrowed my brow in confusion.

"I'm sorry. I don't understand."

"There is a prophecy concerning you. Tell me, child, did you travel here with a valiant Goron and a bit of a drunk Rito?"

"Yes," I said. "But I've not read any prophecy concerning time travel. I've dedicated my life towards learning everything I can about the Sheikah. I am to be the next elder of the tribe! Why have I not read anything about this prophecy?"

"Do you really think you would be allowed to read a prophecy about yourself regarding time travel? It would influence your decisions," She shrugged. I knew that the woman was very wise, but I had a feeling she was guessing right now and hoping that I didn't ask any more questions.

"Lady Impa, has the Hero woken up yet?" I asked. I hoped that she would say yes. Without the Hero, we wouldn't have a chance at beating anything stronger than what we've already faced.

"Not yet."

"What are we to do? Where should we go?"

"Go to the Temple of Time. The goddess will guide you." I thanked her and bowed again before walking out of her home, my home in the future.

I found Rass and Gortron in the bar. Rass was hanging upside down with a drunken grin plastered across his face. He had been pinned by a traveler's sword. Gortron sat in the corner, smiling to himself. "I thought you said you would make sure he didn't get in trouble!"

"Ah, but this is so much more entertaining," he said, pointing at Rass who was trying to talk his way into being allowed to come down without harm. I walked over and stood on a chair.

"Excuse me." I pulled the sword out of the wooden wall, and Rass fell headfirst to the floor. He sat up, rubbed his head and looked up at me with a look of betrayal. I handed the sword to the traveler it belonged to who looked at me with shock and a hint of wanting to swing his sword towards me. He was clearly intoxicated, so I knew that I would be able to hold my own if he decided to act on his bright idea. "Let's go." We left the bar and headed to the front desk. "How much for a bed?" I asked.

"Twenty Rupees." Gortron and I placed our money on the counter. Rass dug around and found twelve in his pocket.

"How about twelve?" He slurred. The innkeeper shook her head. Rass looked at me with longing for a warm bed.

"No. You spent all of your money on alcohol. I am not buying you a place to sleep. You can sleep outside." I scolded. Gortron sighed and dug out another eight Rupees.

Rass's eyes lit up. "Thank you, friend!" He hugged Gortron, but his wings didn't even reach half-way around the giant rock creature. Gortron placed his hand on Rass's head and gently pushed him away.

"Don't mention it."

We departed for the Temple of Time in the morning. We reached a wall that lifted the Great Plateau above the rest of Hyrule. I climbed on Rass's back and he flew up with ease. I sat on the edge of the wall with my feet dangling over as I watched Gortron climb up. I shouted words of encouragement while Rass flew down and kept level with him. I reached up for a High Five when he finally made it to the top, but Gortron looked down at me as he walked by with what could only be described as exhaustion and envy. Rass came over and gave me the High Five I was looking for.

When we reached the Temple of Time a booming female voice spoke to us. "Well done. Gortron, Era, Rass, I have chosen you three to embark on a sacred mission. Hyrule as you know it is in great danger. Monsters are able to travel from the past and future to places they do not belong with help from rifts caused by a great evil. Help me close the five rifts around Hyrule during this time era. Begin your journey by walking through this portal."

We turned around and found a portal to what looked like Akkala. We all three obediently stepped through and discovered we were transported to a stable and inn. We could hear whispers from the many travelers around the area speaking of a scientist named Robbie and how he was on the brink of a breakthrough. I remembered reading about Robbie and Purah, two Sheikah scientists who moved away from Kakariko Village in order to pursue sometimes-dangerous experiments. They were key figures in helping the Hero defeat Calamity Ganon. We decided that it would be a good idea to talk to Robbie and headed into his Ancient Tech Lab.

"Welcome! Would you like to take part in my experiment?" a young Robbie asked as soon as we walked in the door. I shook my head, but both of my traveling partners nodded. I saw a lineup of deactivated guardians. I knew that we had to have traveled back to before Calamity Ganon awoke. "Great! Each participant needs to donate to my research in increments of 100 rupees. The more you donate the more warm fuzzy feeling you get by knowing that you've helped me make history!"

Gortron paid 100 rupees and walked into a back room. I asked what happened and he said that he stood and let a guardian scan his face. Rass then looked at Gortron and me with pleading eyes. "Friends. I have no money. Can I borrow 500 rupees?"

I immediately shook my head and told him why I thought this was a terrible waste of money.

"We can't change history, Rass. Everything will still happen. There's no point in partaking in this study." The familiar look of betrayal planted itself across his face. I had already become immune to it. Gortron sighed and gave Rass 500 Rupees. I shot him a look as if to say "We said no!"

"It will make him happy, and I don't mind giving my money away," Gortron reasoned.

"You will when you two are sleeping outside and I'm in a nice fluffy bed in an inn," I shot back. When Rass came back, he explained that he too had his face scanned by a guardian. "See? Waste of money."

Just then two of the guardians in Robbie's lab flashed a bright red color. The one nearest Robbie pinned him against a wall and begun to swipe it's sword before Gortron smashed it with his favorite weapon, the ball and chain. _It's the Calamity. It's here. _Rass and I worked together to defeat the other Ganon-possessed guardian. Once they were both destroyed, Robbie stood up and shook the dust off his clothes. "T-Thank you," he said. "I don't know what I would have done without you three here." I wished he would have returned the money we just gave him, but he didn't. We turned around and walked out of the door to find another portal waiting for us. We hopped in and found ourselves teleported outside of another stable and inn.

A few yards away from us stood three Bokoblin. We defeated them with relative ease and walked into the stable. I could tell that we were back in the time before the Hero woke up from the tales I overheard others telling in the inn. We looked at the map and decided that going to the Lost Woods, or Mysterious Forest as these people called it, would be a good idea. I had remembered hearing about the Master Sword being placed in the middle of the Forest for safe-keeping. Perhaps whoever was controlling these monsters would find the resting place of the Master Sword a good place to stay?

We stayed in the inn for the night and prepared for what we assumed would be the beginning of the hard part of our journey.


	3. Chapter 3 - Lost and Found

We finally made it to the entrance of what the people of this time called "Mysterious Forest." Immediately I recognized this place. This is a forest that protects itself with magic against any who aren't chosen by the goddess and the power of the Triforce. I explained this to my fellow travelers and added, "I don't think we should go in."

"Nonsense. I'll go in," said Rass. He started to flap his wings and fly straight into the trees. Gortron and I looked at each other with rolled eyes. As Gortron started to follow, I touched his arm.

"Hold on." Shortly after, Rass came flying up behind us.

"You moved very quickly around the forest, friends." He said, landing next to me.

"No. I think you just flew in a big circle," replied Gortron. "You hang here and let me try." After a few minutes Gortron walked up behind us. "That's weird. Let me try again." He started off and I rushed after him. When I caught up, I noticed the forest was covered in a mist so dense that we couldn't see but more than a couple feet ahead. "What do you think?"

"The mist is what's protecting this forest. There's got to be a path we can follow to lead us to where we need to go." I paused. "If there's mist, than there has to be wind, right?"

"Not if it's magic mist," replied Rass.

"That was the first thing you said today that actually made sense," said Gortron. Rass looked at him as if Gortron's words wounded him.

"Of course it does. Everything I say makes sense." Gortron rolled his eyes and groaned a little.

"No, no. Hear me out. What if the mist is magic, but the wind is also magic? What if we start a fire and use a torch to see which way the wind is blowing and follow that?"

"Well, it's an idea." Gortron said. "I have a wooden shield that's doing me no good. You can have it."

"Thanks. I have a spear and a shortsword that I can try to create sparks from the friction," I said.

"No, friend. I have a sword that you can have. Don't break your sword," replied Rass. I took the sword and began clanging the metal together in an attempt to create a spark onto the wood. "Wait! What if we create forest fire and burn down the forest to make a path?"

I turned behind me to face the Rito. "No. This is a magical forest and it will definitely punish us for trying to set it on fire." I resumed clanging the metal together until finally a spark flew onto the wooden shield that was lying on the ground. I grabbed a wooden bow I had no use for to use as a torch. I moved away from the fire so I could study the flame on the torch, but before I knew it, I saw a panicked Goron in the corner of my eye stomping on the ground.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry. I didn't think about the grass catching on fire." As I finished speaking and looked back to my flame, I saw Rass had a flaming arrow pulled back and ready to let fly. "NO!" I yelled as he let go of his bowstring. The arrow hit the nearest tree and it immediately caught on fire. "Gortron! Put it out! You're fireproof!" Gortron ran to the tree and waved his giant arms frantically until he could generate enough wind to put the tree out. I looked up into the sky and apologized, hoping that our actions wouldn't come back to haunt us. I focused on the flame again, looking for anything to point us in a direction.

The flame stood eerily still. It didn't even dance like fire normally does. I threw the bow on the ground and Gortron immediately stomped the flame out. "I don't know," I said in defeat. Gortron looked down around knee level. "What are you looking for?" I asked.

After a couple of seconds he responded, "Follow me." We did, I walked behind him and Rass behind me in a single file line. He constantly stared at the ground, as if he could see the path as long as he didn't look away from it. We eventually came upon a large hollow tree trunk lying on the ground. The inside of the trunk was too dark to see anything. He turned back to face us, "Ready?"

"Do you think that if the goddess led us here to the forest where only those with the power of the triforce can enter, we have the pieces of the Triforce," I asked. "I mean, you're crazy powerful, Gortron, and Rass is sometimes too brave for his own good."

Rass immediately started cackling. "Me? Holding the power of a piece of the triforce? You must be mistaken."

"Well, I can definitely see you two having pieces," Gortron responded. "You have quite the head on your shoulders, little lady. But I don't think I have what it takes to have the power of a Triforce piece."

"Maybe not then. After all, the cycle has been broken and every legend only discusses incarnations of the same spirits holding the power. To my knowledge, we're not those spirits. Okay. Let's go."

Rass and Gortron both nodded and we all headed inside the tree.

It seemed to take longer than it should have to travel through the tunnel, but eventually we found the light that marked the end. We pressed on and exited the tree trunk to find more, but different, woods. However about 60 feet away, three fire-breathing lizards called Lizalfos had spotted us. We all knew that we couldn't run away from them due to their high speed, so we prepared for battle.

"I told you the Forest would punish us for setting it on fire!" I yelled at Rass as I pierced my rapier into the shoulder of the monster in front of me.

We tried to stand our ground but were clearly losing not five minutes into the fight. Rass was to my left. He had lost the strength to fly, which meant that he had all but given up. He still held his bow, but these enemies were too close of range for him to be effective. He had stopped flying ages ago because it exerted too much energy. His feathers were singed, and he was bleeding from wounds his foe inflicted on his right wing. I had also lost most of my strength. I had multiple burns across my face and arms and I felt a sharp pain from my ribcage any time I thrust my rapier. The dampness of my armor could only mean that I had been struck there and was losing too much blood. To my right was Gortron, who also was in a weakened state. Although he had no burns, the outer layer of his rocky body was being literally chipped away at.

"We can't keep this up! We need to run." I said.

"We can't outrun them," Gorton replied, mid-swing.

"I can. I think I can still fly high enough to get away," said Rass.

"Good. Take Era and go. I can buy you some time," Gortron said.

"No! I'm not leaving you. We don't leave our fellow soldiers," I said, stabbing the monster in front of me. It didn't seem to do much damage.

"I live in a volcano. I can't be burned. Besides, I couldn't outrun them if I tried. Save yourselves," Gorton said. The monster in front of him stabbed his shoulder, and a large rock fell from him as he screamed in pain.

"I can't. If you're going to die, I'll stay and die too. I won't sacrifice you. I can't do that." I didn't want to die. I was actually terrified of the thought, but I couldn't live with myself knowing that I had betrayed everything I had learned in my military training. I would live with guilt forever if he died to save us.

"What good are three dead heroes? You two can finish our mission. I know you can. I can buy you time to get to safety." He raised up his fists and smashed the Lizalfos with a booming, "NOW GO!"

I turned with tears welling in my eyes and climbed on the back of Rass. He began to flap his wings and fly upwards and back towards the way we came. I held onto him as I turned back to watch what would become of our friend.

Both of the Lizalfos that we were fighting started to chase us. One of them was prepared to launch an attack. Gortron sidestepped and blocked the monster's path to take the blow. He ducked his head and blocked his face with his left hand and the top of his head with his right hand.

I let out a small "No!" as I turned back around in despair. I could feel tears begin to fall from my eyes and sting my face where they touched my burnt skin. I felt the ache of guilt in my chest as the realization that I traded my life for my friend's began to take over my brain. I couldn't watch him die for us.

But then through my clenched eyes, I could sense a flash of the brightest light I've ever seen. I opened my eyes, and turned around, prepared to either see the afterlife or realize I had been dreaming. But instead I saw Gortron standing in the same position I saw him in when I shut my eyes.

However, the Triforce was illuminated on the back of his right hand. One of the monsters lay dead in front of him and the other two were knocked back, lost their weapons, and were bleeding. Gortron lowered his hands and looked at them. Once he saw the Triforce of Power on his right hand, he clenched his fists and they erupted in a violet aura. He immediately gained confidence and looked immensely stronger.

"YES!" I yelled as I let go of Rass and raised my fists into the air in celebration. I grabbed onto his feathers again for balance. "Rass, turn around! Everything is all right."

"No. We must get to safety," he said and continued heading back. I protested, but he pretended not to hear me. I pulled on his feathers on his upper back and hit his side to try to get him to land, but he gritted his teeth and focused straight ahead.

We finally made it back to the beginning of the forest and as we were landing we hear the booming voice of our fellow adventurer yell, "Killed them!" We picked up and flew back to Gortron. He was stooped on the ground in not physical, but emotional exhaustion. I jumped off of Rass and gave him a big hug.

"I am so proud of you!" I exclaimed. "Also, you're not very fun to hug. You're too rock hard." I said with a smile. He looked back at me with a weak smile.

"Thanks. Let's find a place to rest. I think we all need to recoup from this." I nodded and looked around. "Do you think we're safe here?" he asked, but no sooner than he stopped speaking a loud groan came from up ahead. I jumped, and Gorton's head snapped in the direction of the noise.

We were all three weak from our battle and needed to tend to our wounds. Rass started flapping his wings and hovering above us. "I will go." Gortron and I opened our mouth to protest but he was already far enough away that we would have to shout, which would alert whatever made the groaning noise. Gortron looked down at me and then around the clearing. Without a word, he curled up into a ball and disguised himself as a rock. I hid behind him and looked up into the trees. I decided to climb a nearby tree and hide in the branches. I was worried our traveling partner walked into a trap and would knowingly alert the enemy of our whereabouts. We couldn't survive another battle right now.

Rass returned a few minutes later. He landed in front of Gortron and knocked on his back as if he were knocking on a door. "Rock friend? Is that you?" Gortron stood up and brushed himself off. I climbed down from the tree and walked over to the boys.

"What did you see, Rass?" I asked.

"Spiders!"

"How big were they?" Gortron asked.

"What did they look like?" I added.

Rass shrugged "Eh, they were spiders. One big one and other smaller ones."

"How many were there?" I asked.

"Uh, a couple. Maybe five. I'm not sure." Rass said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Also, I saw a big light pillar!"

"That has to be one of the portals the goddess asked us to close!" Gortron said. I nodded.

"I think we should go. We can beat spiders," Rass said. I shook my head in protest. Gortron did as well.

"We need to rest," Gortron said. "You are very close to death, brother. I can tell. You need to heal before we take on another battle."

"We could always come back," I agreed. Rass shook his head and looked me in the eye with more sincerity than I had ever seen from him.

"We don't need to rest. I know we can win this." I looked up at Gortron who was still unsure.

"Look, how often do we listen to what he says? Maybe we should this time. We don't know what he saw. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" I said to Gortron. He looked down at me in all seriousness.

"We all die."

There was silence for a minute before Rass said again, "I know we can win this." Gortron sighed. "And besides, I have a fairy that will revive someone if they die! She can only heal one person a day, though," he added with a grin.

"Fine. We'll go," Gortron conceded. We walked until we reached an enormous clearing. About 100 feet away, in the exact middle of the clearing, a giant spider was perched in what could only be the Great Deku Tree. I was sure that this was Gohma, a spider monster that lived in the Deku tree in one of the many legends I had read growing up. On the ground, smaller spiders noticed our arrival. They scuttled over to Rass, who was panting from exhaustion of merely walking, and one of them bit him. He immediately doubled over and fell unconscious.

"Rass!" I yelled. As I ran over and stabbed the spiders that were continuing to huddle around his body, his fairy flew out of his bag and healed him. He stood back up and began to fly.

"Be careful, friends! Their bites hurt!" He said joyfully as he shot arrows from the air.

He and Gortron were amazing fighters. Gortron would stomp on the bugs without a care. I did my best to take down as many as I could, and was feeling proud of myself until I missed a spider trying to bite Gortron and narrowly avoided stabbing his foot instead.

"Hey! Watch where you're aiming!" He shouted. We could see that Gohma was laying eggs and hatching them, producing more spiders for use to squish. I ran up to the Deku Tree, where some eggs lay unhatched, and started to stab them. I was able to destroy one, but the other four hatched immediately and began to attack me. I did my best to fight them off, but there were just too many of them. I fell down, which gave them the opportunity to climb on top of me and attack. It wasn't long before I fell unconscious.

I was standing in a hallway. One end was as dark as the night with a new moon and the other end was bright white. I stood somewhere in the middle closer to the darkness. I could feel myself be drawn to the darkness. It wanted to envelope me like a warm blanket on a rainy afternoon. I began walking that way, but I noticed that I felt weaker when I did. I didn't like feeling weaker. I wanted to be strong like Gortron. I tried to walk away from the darkness and towards the light, but it was much more difficult to do. Walking towards the light was like walking uphill while you were underwater. It made it difficult to breath. I knew that this was what I needed to do to survive. I needed to stand in the light end of the hallway. With much effort I made it. Although I couldn't move my physical body at all, I could begin to hear what was going on around me.

I heard the grunts of my companions as they smashed spiders. I wanted to be with them and help them defeat the enemy, but I was stuck lying underneath the tree. I could make out the faint _twang_s of Rass's bowstring. One seemed to take place significantly farther away than the rest of them. I thought about what could be so far way. I knew. It was Gohma. He was trying to knock her out of the tree. I heard branches above me snapping and prayed that she wouldn't land on me. But she did, and I felt my body be crushed and kicked, which hurled it across the field a good distance before I lost consciousness and found myself in the hallway again.

I fought harder to move towards the light end of the hallway, but the darkness had more power now. Instead of inviting me to stay in the dark, it was actively pulling me. I pulled against it, fearing what would happen to me if I ended up in full darkness. I screamed, certain no one in the outside world could hear me. I tried to run towards the light end of the hallway, but could only make slow progress. I knew that I had to have severe internal injuries from the crushing force of a giant spider landing on top of me. I knew that they were the reason I was fighting against what was most certainly death right now. Gohma was the last thing on my mind now. I had to rely on my partners to fight the battle against Gohma without me. I was fighting my own.


End file.
